How many at-bats for Russ Adams in 2006? (Read this!)
| 325 |  2 (1.39%) |
| 375 | 3 (2.08%) |
| 425 | 17 (11.81%) |
| 475 | 35 (24.31%) |
| 525 | 59 (40.97%) |
| 575 | 28 (19.44%) |
144 votes | 5 featured comments
Russ Adams, born August 30, 1980.
2004: 72 AB, .359 OBP, .528 SLG (483, .351, .408 in AAA Syracuse)
2005: 481 AB, .325 OBP, .383 SLG
Career: 553 AB, .329 OBP, .401 SLG
2004: 72 AB, .359 OBP, .528 SLG (483, .351, .408 in AAA Syracuse)
2005: 481 AB, .325 OBP, .383 SLG
Career: 553 AB, .329 OBP, .401 SLG
I voted a conservative 475 AB, .330/.400. I expect Gibbons to again give John McDonald more work against lefties than I'd like to see.
The key for Adams is to make progress with the glove.
The key for Adams is to make progress with the glove.
Russ Adams by month:
Month AB OBP SLG April 55 0.295 0.327 May 67 0.307 0.507 June 68 0.274 0.441 July 79 0.427 0.380 August 104 0.361 0.413 Sept 103 0.241 0.243Maybe it doesn't mean anything, but Adams started out slow (particularly OBP), heated up in July held it through August, and then seemingly hit the wall in September.
If you want to say that the beginning of the year was adjusting to the league and the end of the year was the proverbial 'rookie wall' you could come up with a pretty good line for Adams in 2006. I think I went with .345/.425
Being an optimist, I like the fact that he demonstrated both the ability to get on base at a very high rate and the ability to hit for power... bad news being that he never did both at the same time, good news being that he did each for a two-month stretch (.441 SLG in June doesn't sound so impressive, but his IsoP that month was .191). I also like that his second-best month was the one with the most at-bats - those numbers aren't inflated by sitting against lefties.
Those are some of the strangest month-by-month spilts I've seen in a while. They remind of several different types of players:
April and September, he hit like 2005 Cristian Guzman (bad at everything). Hope for Adams in the future rests on these being abnormally bad months, or at least him not having 2 ones like it each year. In my head, I assume Adams stopped leading off at some point in September, after struggling so badly, but I can't recall whether that happened or not now. Ended up at .323/.328 leading off in 290 ABs. Which is obviously not good enough.
May and June, like a Toronto-era Tony Batista. Which is to say, useful in a limited kind of way, but only if slugging .500 or more. Also, in the 9th spot in the lineup, he hit .324/.532 in 124 ABs. That was in these two months, as I recall. That's a damn fine 9-hole hitter, and better than anyone on the team for the total year.
July and August, like Luis Castillo or Juan Pierre, when they are going well (without the high # of steals). Toronto could really use a young player like this, who works at bats and gets on base. Catalanotto and Zaun are sort of like this already, but neither poses much of a distraction on the basepaths, while Adams (11 of 13 steals) could potentially be at least a minor pest for pitchers.
The shift into high OBP occurred (or at least I recall it this way) when he started leading off. The end of the year...well, let's just hope he was tired. But any player that can switch from Batista-esque slugging to Castillo-esque On-base skils would seem to have a lot of talent, and to be very aware of how to apply it. It would seem that his stats this year might depend heavily on how he is used and what he is asked to do. In the leadoff spot, I'd expect a .365/.390 type year. If he's down in the order, I'd expect a .320/.450 type line. I of course am hoping he "puts it all together" and puts up a .370/.500 line, but realistically, if he can be an average hitter this year, show signs of improved consistentcy at the plate on in the field, it would be a good year for him.
April and September, he hit like 2005 Cristian Guzman (bad at everything). Hope for Adams in the future rests on these being abnormally bad months, or at least him not having 2 ones like it each year. In my head, I assume Adams stopped leading off at some point in September, after struggling so badly, but I can't recall whether that happened or not now. Ended up at .323/.328 leading off in 290 ABs. Which is obviously not good enough.
May and June, like a Toronto-era Tony Batista. Which is to say, useful in a limited kind of way, but only if slugging .500 or more. Also, in the 9th spot in the lineup, he hit .324/.532 in 124 ABs. That was in these two months, as I recall. That's a damn fine 9-hole hitter, and better than anyone on the team for the total year.
July and August, like Luis Castillo or Juan Pierre, when they are going well (without the high # of steals). Toronto could really use a young player like this, who works at bats and gets on base. Catalanotto and Zaun are sort of like this already, but neither poses much of a distraction on the basepaths, while Adams (11 of 13 steals) could potentially be at least a minor pest for pitchers.
The shift into high OBP occurred (or at least I recall it this way) when he started leading off. The end of the year...well, let's just hope he was tired. But any player that can switch from Batista-esque slugging to Castillo-esque On-base skils would seem to have a lot of talent, and to be very aware of how to apply it. It would seem that his stats this year might depend heavily on how he is used and what he is asked to do. In the leadoff spot, I'd expect a .365/.390 type year. If he's down in the order, I'd expect a .320/.450 type line. I of course am hoping he "puts it all together" and puts up a .370/.500 line, but realistically, if he can be an average hitter this year, show signs of improved consistentcy at the plate on in the field, it would be a good year for him.